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Lunedì 29 Settembre 2014

Spaghetti Wasteland – The Secret History of Italian Music from Morricone to Parco Lambro ‘76 at the 14th International Architecture Exhibition of la Biennale di Venezia

On 4th and 5thOctober2014 - within the context of the 14th International Architecture Exhibition of la Biennale di Venezia - NERO is pleased to present Spaghetti Wasteland -The Secret History of Italian Music from Morricone to Parco Lambro '76,a two-day event dedicated to the so-called "spaghetti-sound," a peculiar kind of music that emerged in Italy in the 60s and 70s thanks to the work of artists such as Ennio Morricone, Franco Battiato, Goblin, Area and many others.This typical Italian sound can be described as a mixture of avant-garde research and pop contaminations, born and developed across contexts such as film scoring, experimental rock, youth counterculture movements and other hybrid creative fields of the era.

During the first day of Spaghetti Wasteland, British electronic duo Demdike Stare will conduct a special workshop/performance demonstrating how original spaghetti-sound sources are used within their own music, which is often a kind of homage to the Italian atmospheres of that period. During the presentation, a group of guests - composed of journalist and TV presenter Costantino della Gherardesca, music critic Enrico Bettinello, Onga of the indie record label Boring Machines, and moderated by music writer Valerio Mattioli - will discuss the cultural issues raised by Demdike Stare's choices and references. Before and after the workshop, a selection of spaghetti-sound materials from the 70s will be broadcast in the spaces of the Arsenale. Later in the evening a special concert by Demdike Stare will be held at Spazio Aereo club in Mestre, as part of the Spaghetti Wasteland After Party which also includes a dj set by Italian producer Francisco and a performance by electronic artist Von Tesla.

The second day is devoted to live performances by some of spaghetti-sound's most prominent contemporary heirs: a new breed of bands - such as Mamuthones, Squadra Omega, Mai Mai Mai and Heroin In Tahiti - that update the lesson of the 60s and 70s masters while contaminating it with the aesthetics of the 2000s. The concert will be opened by a screening of Parco Lambro 1976, a film by avant-garde icon Alberto Grifi which documents the event that symbolically put an end to a decade of Italian creative explosion.

Spaghetti Wasteland provides a first attempt to analyze the so-called spaghetti-sound, a unique cultural phenomenon that stands as one of the last Italian cultural products capable of differentiating itself from the dominant British and American pop-music models.

SPAGHETTI WASTELAND - The Secret History of Italian Music from Morricone to Parco Lambro '76
A project by NERO for the section Weekend Specials of Monditalia at the 14thInternational Architecture Exhibition of la Biennale di Venezia